Syria
Syria is a country in the Middle East, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Israel to the southwest, Jordan to the south, Iraq to the east, and Turkey to the north. The name Syria, formerly comprised the entire region of the Levant, while the modern state encompasses the site of several ancient kingdoms and empires, including the Eblan civilization of the third millennium BC. The region has seen empires come and go, including the Roman, Ottoman, and French empires. Modern Syria gained independence in 1946. It struggled as a republic throughout the 1960s, finally succumbing to a one-party dictatorship in 1970, with Hafez al-Assad as president. His son Bashar succeed him in 2000. Some initial hopes that Bashar would bring about reforms were disappointed. In 2011, the Syrian government cracked down on an uprising that was part of the Arab Spring, which led to a civil war that remains ongoing as of this writing. Syria in Alpha and Omega Israeli planes bombed Damascus, killing the President of Syria for his alleged complicity in the dirty bombing of Tel Aviv.Alpha and Omega, pgs. 81-82. This exacerbated the country's civil war, with no end in sight.Ibid, p. 465. Syria in Crosstime Traffic In 2033, the Syrian capital Damascus was destroyed by a nuclear weapon smuggled into the city. Various countries and organizations were suspected, Syrian rebels, Israel, Turkey and the United States among them, but there was never concrete proof as to the culprits. Six decades later, it was assumed that the perpetrators were already dead - either in the blast itself or of old age - and that the truth would never come out.In High Places, pg. 239. Syria in Gunpowder Empire Syria, like Mesopotamia, was periodically changing hands between the Roman and Persian Empires. Romans did not regard such periodic losses as catastrophic, since the Persians never penetrated deeper into the Imperial heartlands. Syria in "Departures" Syria was a province of the Byzantine Empire. In the 7th century, it had been invaded and occupied by the Persians. The occupation lasted for about 15 years before the Empire drove the Persians off and reclaimed the lost territory. It was during a trading mission to Syria that Mouamet converted to Christianity.See e.g. Departures, pg. 56. Syria in "Interlibrary Loan" In 2017, Hafez ibn Abd-al-Rahim brought a copy of the [http://lovecraft.wikia.com/wiki/Necronomicon Necronomicon] to ar-Raqqah, Syria, ISIS' headquarters. He had to enter Syria from Turkey, and got lost at least once on the way to ar-Raqqah. When he arrived in the city, two men, Khalid and Ibrahim attempted to cast a spell to attack the United States. However, the spell went wrong, unleashing a creature that killed all those present and effectively destroyed the center of ar-Raqqah.Tales from the Miskatonic University Library, loc. 1035-1065, ebook. Syria in "Occupation Duty" Syria was inhabited by the Ellenes, who sometimes fought alongside their distant cousins the Philistinians in various Middle Eastern conflicts. However, they lacked the oil wealth of the Arabs and the Turks of Babylonia. The Turks outnumbered the Syrian Ellenes three to one.See e.g.: Atlantis and Other Places, pgs. 240-241, HC. Therefore, the Philistines could not take their aid for granted in any new war. Syria in "The Road Not Taken" In the 2030s, Syria became the focal point of a war which came to be known as the Second Syrian Crisis.See e.g. Kaleidoscope, pg. 180, mpb. References Category:Countries in Asia Category:Agent of Byzantium Category:Alpha and Omega Category:Axis Members (OTL) Category:Axis Members (Alternate Timeline) Category:Byzantine Empire (OTL) Category:Byzantine Empire (Alternate Timeline) Category:Crosstime Traffic Category:Gunpowder Empire Category:Departures (story) Category:French Empire (OTL) Category:French Empire (Alternate Timeline) Category:Interlibrary Loan Category:Mongol Empire Category:Occupation Duty Category:Ottoman Empire Category:Parthian Empire Category:The Road Not Taken Category:Roman Empire